If you think Arkansas has changed a lot over the decades, just imagine how much it’s changed over the past century! Luckily, you don’t have to imagine because we’ve dug up some historic photos of Arkansas that will show you just what it was like living in The Natural State in the early 1900s.

1. In 1901, a group gathers outside of Happy Hollow in Hot Springs.
Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress)/Wikimedia Commons
Once known as McLeod’s Amusement Park, Happy Hollow was one of the area’s most popular tourist attractions from the late 1800s until the 1940s.
2. Getting down to business at the Southern Pine Lumber Company in November 1907.
J. D. Cress/Wikimedia Commons
This vintage photo was snapped in the company’s main office in Texarkana.
3. A 1908 snapshot of the supervisor’s office of the Arkansas National Forest (which we now know as the Ouachita National Forest).
U.S. Forest Service/Wikimedia Commons
4. A family goes out for a leisurely drive, circa 1910.
William Creswell/Wikimedia Commons
Though the family’s identity isn’t known for certain, a sticker on the back of the photo shows a Dumas, AR address.
5. The A.C. Jones Ice Company ice wagon makes its rounds in Hot Springs in 1915.
russavia/Wikimedia Commons

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6. This lively scene was snapped in downtown Pea Ridge in 1914.
University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville/Wikimedia Commons
7. A group of players at Boston Red Sox spring training in Little Rock pose for a picture in 1907.
BPL/Wikimedia Commons
8. Snapped between 1886 and 1900, this photo of the tennis court at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs may be a bit out of our time range, but it’s just too good not to share.
Wikimedia Commons
9. This group photo appeared in the 1913 souvenir year book and parish guide of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church of Hot Springs.
Internet Archive Book Images/Wikimedia Commons
10. Two workers tend to their flock at an ostrich farm in Hot Springs, circa 1900.
Detroit Publishing Co./Wikimedia Commons

So, what’d you think of these historic photos of Arkansas? Has the state changed as much as you expected? Which photo is your favorite? Tell us!

Did you enjoy this peek into the past? If so, you’ll definitely want to see the oldest photos ever taken in Arkansas.

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